Keep talking and nobody explodes
by GygyFr
Summary: When the Five-o task force has to face people targeting them with video games traps, the team has to work hard to find who is/are behind this hunting. And they will do everything possible to protect their ohana. Especially Steve...


**Hello everyone! For those who don't know me yet, this is my first H50 story and English is not my mother tongue.**

 **I've started to watch the show about two weeks ago, and I managed to watch every single episode until now. I have to say: what a show!**

 **To explain everything: I had an idea for a story (I write fanfictions for Chicago Fire) but it didn't fit the show, so I tried to find a solution to include it to one of my fics. In vain until today ^^ Hawaii 5-0 was THE perfect way to use this story! So here it is ^^**

 **I hope there won't be too many mistakes or anything because I worked hard on that story! I will also let an author's note at the end of it to explain more things related to the content.**

 **Please, leave me some reviews about your thoughts ^^**

 **I do not own any characters from the show Hawaii 5-0.**

* * *

The whole team was working on a terrible and weird case the governor had asked them to have a look at. This investigation was something they had never faced before. Even superSEAL had never seen such a thing. The suspect, and they didn't have any at the time yet, was using video games to play tricks on them for days now. And they didn't have any victim either; the target was the five-o task force. They were all sure of that now and the governor already felt terribly sorry and guilty about this, as she asked her best men to resolve this problem. In fact, she had convened the leader of the task force unit to talk about this with him. Steve McGarrett barely had time to talk to her, but he resolved to do it, feeling a tone in the voice of the governor.

"I'm sorry to put you and your team in such a position, commander", she admitted after having asked Steve to enter her office. "I put all of you in danger."

"Ma'am, all due respect, I think my team is probably the only one able to solve this case and find the responsible of all this", he replied, as proud as serious and sure of himself. "We'll find him and put him in jail."

The governor sighed deeply, looking straight into Steve's eyes, who hadn't blink for thirty seconds now. She finally closed her eyes and lowered her head. She couldn't win against him.

"Alright", she finally resigned. "What do we got?"

As Steve remained standing, he developed the case they were facing.

"We have someone targeting us with video games, probably to get us killed or injured. He already played tricks on us with airsoft, call of duty, snakes and labyrinth game".

"S-snakes?" the governor asked, surprised and frightened.

"Yeah, he threw venomous and lethal snakes on a labyrinth on us to get us killed, but we killed them before they could do something. Anyway, some species were pretty rare and were coming from different parts of the world, especially from Australia. Jerry is actually looking the influx of exotic animals, whether by plane or by boat or by any means over the last six months. These snakes were certainly not born here, so there must necessarily be a trace of their arrival. When so, we will have the recipient of these snakes and we will go pay... A friendly visit."

Steve forced a smile; he had no intention of being friendly with anyone harming his _ohana_.

"I know you won't", she said truthfully.

She knew this look and this smile were both faked. He was a SEAL after all; they were taught to lie.

"Listen. I know that you will do everything to catch this dude and make him pay for what he's doing to your team, which is also your family. And I won't stop you, nor blame you for that. Do whatever it takes to put an end to this."

"Thank you, Governor. Will do."

With this, he turned and left the room, walking straight toward his car in order to go back to his own office. In the meantime, his phone rang and he turned it on.

"Jerry, you got something?"

"Yes, boss. As I couldn't find something over the last six months, I decided to extend the research on within this year, and I found something. A plane arrived here in Hawaii with Australian animals eight months ago for the Honolulu Zoo. But at its arrival, the content wasn't complete, the snakes were missing. The man who was supposed to bring the load had been attacked by, quote, an armed group just like in GTA."

It hit Steve: a single couldn't do something this complicated, it was far beyond everyone and everything. They necessarily had to be three or four, probably more.

"They're our men."

"I scanned the area through surveillance cameras, and I was able to track them, but I've lost them on Halawa."

"Okay, Jerry. Contact the army and ask them to have an access on the satellite to track them down and have their location."

"Uh… I can boss, but I don't think I'll be able to do it."

"You can for today, Jerry. The Governor just gave us a free card."

"I'm on it, boss."

He hung up, entering his car and turning on the engine, leading toward King Street, where the headquarters were. Less than five minutes later, he entered the building and went straight to his office, quickly joined by his partner Danny Williams. The latter knew that Steve wasn't okay, far from this, just like every single time someone had targeted his family, but he needed to check on him. He didn't knock, just slowly opening the door.

"You okay?"

Steve turned toward him, his face marked with a pinch of anxiety and concern. He couldn't hide it from his best friend; Danny had learned to read him over the years.

"I'll be when this will be over."

"Jerry won't have access to the satellite for at least half an hour. We should eat something."

"What about the kids and Grover?"

The kids. Danny and Steve talked about Tani and Junior as their kids, because they had just finished police training and they were the youngest of the gang.

"Grover is eating in his office with Tani and Junior. Don't worry about them. It's been a long time we just ate together."

"What, you want a date or something?"

Danny couldn't help but grin. But he knew that it was something Steve did when he was upset or stressed out. Two minutes later, they were in Danny's car, Steve obviously behind the wheel, and nobody dared to talk. But the detective was really sick of this; the car was too calm.

"Hum… Jerry told me that the Governor asked you to catch these guys at all cost?"

"And we will."

"Oh, I don't question the fact of catching them, but I think that the way to do it will not please me."

"So, you prefer to use 'conventional' methods to catch these guys targeting us?"

"No, I didn't say that. I just don't like your way, even after years."

"I see, you're still pissed at me from day one for having got shot."

"Yes, I am! Because you were a stubborn bastard! And for the record, you still are!"

"That's the best compliment you could give to me, you know that."

"Unfortunately, yes."

Danny sighed, Steve looking straight at the road and focused on his driving. They both knew that this case was putting them over the edge; they had to let everything go, even though it was on each other.

"I'm sorry", Danny started, because deep down, he knew his best friend wasn't going to give him an excuse. "This case sucks."

"Yeah. The sooner it's over, the better."

The rest of the journey was silent, the tension in the car barely bearable. But then, everything went away, as they saw Kamekona and his shrimp truck.

"Aloha, my friend! What can I do for you today?"

"Aloha Kamekona. The usual please."

"I'm on it."

As Kamekona walked toward his truck to prepare their meal, Danny and Steve sat down at a table.

"I was thinking", Steve started in a whisper.

"Uh oh, don't hurt yourself."

Steve gave a refrained smile to Danny.

"Funny. If the snakes had been taken to the black market of Hawaii, maybe Kamekona can help us."

"So you think that, maybe, the guys who took the snakes have sold them."

"That's a possibility, okay? They went beyond the coverage of Honolulu's surveillance cameras. It means that they knew we'll track them down one way or another."

"We don't have any leads, you think it's the least we could do?"

"It's worth to try, isn't it?"

Danny finally nodded; they had to explore the least thing to catch these guys, and the black market was a serious lead for the moment. Seven minutes passed, and Kamekona came back with two fried shrimp plates.

"Here we go, brothers. Anything else I can do for you?"

"Actually, you probably can."

The owner of the truck sat on the bench near Steve and looked at him.

"What is it?"

"Would you tell us if any Australian snakes have been sold on the black market recently?"

"Australian snakes? That's specific. Mh…"

Kamekona was thinking, but he couldn't find anything.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think so. I will contact someone, but it'll take hours to have this information."

"Thank you."

With this, he stood up and went away, leaving the two friends together eating their shrimps. Something was bothering Danny but he didn't know how to ask his partner.

"Something is in the head of yours, Danno?" Steve asked, seeing the lost look of his friend.

"Well, I know that something is bothering you, and I would like to know what."

"You know me so well, huh?"

"That's why we are partners after all."

"I don't actually know what I will do when we will find these dudes."

"Ah. You're trying to figure out whether to kill them or not."

"I'm not such a monster!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Am not!"

"You. Freaking. Are, Steve! When something hurt your family or any kid, you're all over the place and we can barely stop you. I know how you work and I know you're thinking about killing them. And it's not because the Governor gave us a free card, we have to play huge."

"They're tricking us, Danno! They are playing with us and take a great pleasure with it! And you know how I play."

"Unfortunately, I do, yeah. You don't like losing."

"Who likes it?"

"Fair point. But please, Steve? Don't do anything stupid. I…"

He stopped, raising his head to stare at his friend.

"I love you too much."

Surprised, Steve stopped eating; he could read the truth of his words on his face. Danny wasn't lying; he loved him, brotherly speaking.

"I love you too, pal. You know I do and I would do anything to protect my family."

"I know. I won't stop you, I would do the same actually. Trust me. But be careful, these guys are trying to get us killed."

This time, Steve sighed before his best friend. They knew each other too well, and Danno had made a point; he was thinking about something stupid. He didn't like when his _ohana_ was in danger; he didn't show it straight, but people knowing him like Danny could read his mind perfectly.

"I will do my best", he reassured Danno, who started eating again.

Just in time for a phone call from Jerry. Steve took the call but didn't turn the speaker on, in case of being listened.

"What do you have, Jerry?"

"I got access to the satellite and I was able to track the group down. They went to a house. I send you the address."

A second later, he received a message from Jerry with the address: 99-365 Aheahe Street at Aiea. They took their plates, heading towards the grey Chevrolet to drive where their enemies could be. Or else, it's another death trap…

* * *

Arrived on scene, Danny and Steve immediately had their right hand on their gun. The group targeting them could still be in the house and they had to be very careful. Grover, Tani and Junior were already waiting for them and explained that there were no movements inside the house. McGarrett ordered Grover and Junior to take the back as Danny, Tani and him would enter through the front door. Ready to enter the place, Steve remembered his friend's words and asked him to look carefully through the window, but he didn't see anything suspicious.

"Five-o! Open up!" Steve screamed while knocking strongly the door.

But nothing. He turned, ordering without a word his two colleagues to get ready, and after a quick nod from them, he slammed the door open with his right leg before turning back and pointing his gun inside the house. They cautiously entered one by one, Steve first as always, then Danny who took the right and Tani for her left. After a minute for inspecting the house, they all lowered their gun.

"Clear!" they all said.

Except for Steve.

"Uh… Found something, guys."

Suddenly, everyone froze. His voice… Something was wrong, and not only Danny could sense it. Approaching slowly, raising their guns again, they froze once again when they saw what Steve had been scared of. There was a bomb in front of them.

"I… I call the bomb squad."

Grover was the first to dare to move, grabbing his phone from his pocket and dialing the police number for backup and the bomb squad.

"Have you ever seen such a thing, Steve?"

"No."

Danny closed his eyes; it was rare to face something Steve had never faced before. So rare. There was a piece of paper near the bomb device that caught their attention. It had been printed.

"At 2 pm today, this bomb will explode, unless you defuse it. If you take it out of the house, it explodes. The slightest suspicious movement from you and it explodes. Your only way to make it ineffective is to activate and defuse it. When so, you will have 8 minutes and two strikes possible before the explosion. It will be so huge that it will destroy a major part of the city. Now let's play", Steve read out loud. "These guys are insane…"

But something else was wrong; if they moved, the bomb will explode. It only meant one thing; they were watching us. And probably listening to us as well. Steve grabbed his phone as well, sharing a look with Danny, who did the same to text Tani and Junior. Even if they were in the same room, their only way to communicate without being seen was with texts.

"Jerry. We have a new game."

"Okay, what is it?"

"I, uh… I don't know. It's a bomb, and the paper says: at2pm today, this bomb will explode, unless you defuse it. If you take it out of the house, it explodes. The slightest suspicious movement from you and it explodes. Your only way to make it ineffective is to activate and defuse it. When so, you will have 8 minutes and two strikes possible before the explosion. It will be so huge that it will destroy a major part of the city. Now let's play."

"Oh, I know that game. It's called 'keep talking and nobody explodes'. The aim of this game is to defuse a bomb with two people; one explaining what he sees on the device and the other giving the instructions according to what the one with the bomb explains."

"And we can't cheat on that game?"

"Well you can, but the aim of this game is a team effort. And I presume that if we cheat, the bomb will explode anyway."

"Okay, and how can we find these instructions?"

"On the internet. For the record, I am a master on this game."

Steve reached his watch, trying to know what time it was. 1:41 pm. The bomb squad would never make it here in time to defuse the bomb. Steve had to take the risk and to turn on the device in order to defuse it himself.

"Okay, guys? Get away from here. It's too dangerous for you to be here."

"Not a chance", the four other members of five-o said at the same time.

"You all have a family, I can't take the risk of bringing you down with me."

"Steve, we're not going anywhere, okay? Just save the world, as usual, superSEAL."

With this, the commander passed his hands through his face. He was so scared. He had the training to hide his fear, to face everything with a straight face. But this? That was beyond his own strength. He was scared, angry. He had hatred printed in his eyes. He let out a sigh, before going back near the bomb while Danny was sending a text to Sergeant Duke Lukela; he had to find a way to track down the device used to see and listen to the group inside the house.

"Okay, Jerry. Let's do this. Do you have the instructions with you?"

"Yes, I do. But before activate the bomb, I have to explain something. Do not relate everything you see when the time will be on, okay? One "game" at the time."

"Alright. Tell me when you're ready."

"I am ready, boss."

Steve inhaled deeply, trying to keep his head cold. Many lives were in his hands now, he couldn't lose. He had to win. He turned on the device and started explaining.

"Alright, we have six games. One of them is with five horizontal wires."

"Okay, let's start with that. Horizontal wires. Five of them right?"

"Yeah."

Danny, Tani, Junior and Grover were looking at Steve. As they could only be two people 'playing' this game, they couldn't participate and just see what would happen. Two strikes. It meant that Steve only had the right to one mistake.

"Is the last wire black?"

Staring carefully at the wires, Steve replied quickly.

"No, it's yellow."

"Last wire yellow, okay. Is there exactly one red wire?"

"There is none. We have two black wires, one yellow wires, one blue and one white."

"Okay, two black, one yellow, blue, white… Uh, cut the first wire!"

"Are you sure?"

"If the instructions are correct, then yes."

Sweat was profusely streaming down Steve's face while he was about to cut the first wire of the device. One wrong move and they were all dead, with thousands of people with them. His hand was trembling, although he tried to hide it. Everyone was holding their breaths as Steve finally cut the wire.

"Okay, one green button is on."

"It means that the first game is over. Let's go to the second game."

Steve's eyes went on the game on the right of this first game. There were four buttons with symbols on them. As he had to describe everything to Jerry…

"Huh… There are… 4 pictograms… Some sorts of keypads", he explained with a trembling voice.

"Okay, describe the four of them."

"Uh… There is uh…some sort of a psi letter from the Greek Alphabet. Uh… A reversed N with a thing on it, uh… An o with a kind of tail on the top, and… A sort of reversed E with an umlaut."

"Okay, you will have to push the button in the exact same order I give you."

"Okay, okay…"

"Let's start with the tailed o, then the reversed E, the psi letter and last with the reversed N."

Steve listened carefully as he pushed the buttons in order Jerry gave him. A second green button lit up.

"Okay, green button. The next one is uh… Another horizontal wire game."

"How many wires?"

"Six."

"Do you have any yellow wire?"

"There are two yellow, two blue and two red."

"Okay, more than one yellow wire, red wires as well… Cut the fourth wire, boss."

Steve swallowed hard, bringing his knife back next to the bomb device. He could feel his heart beating a mile an hour inside his chest. As asked, he cut the fourth wire and stopped breathing for a second, before another green light appeared. He let out another sigh of relief, before moving forward the next game.

"There is a button. A blue button."

"Anything written on it?"

"Yeah, it says 'detonate'."

"Alright… How many batteries do you have on the bomb?"

"Uh… There are… There is only one battery."

"Okay, you have to push the button and hold it. Just next to the button there will be a vertical colored light. You'll have to tell me which color it is."

"Okay."

He said so; he pushed the button and didn't dare release it.

"The light is blue, Jerry."

"Okay, you will release the button when the countdown timer will have a 4 in any position."

Everyone looked at the countdown timer at the same time. three minutes and thirty-two seconds… Steve had to wait for any four. Thirty-one. Thirty. Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight. Twenty-seven. Twenty-six. Twenty-five. Twenty-four. Release the button. And another sigh of relief filled the room as another green light appeared. Two more games now, and three minutes.

"Okay, next game is… Vertical wires."

"Ah damn; I don't like this part."

Steve swallowed harder than previously. They were losing time.

"Jerry. No time for that."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm focused. Let's start with the first wire."

"It's a blue/white wire."

"There is a light above it?"

"It's turned off."

"Any star below?"

"Uh, yes."

"Okay, don't cut it. What's the next wire?"

As Steve understood that he had to explain which color the wire was and if there was any light on or star, he continued.

"It's a white one, with uh… No light and no star."

"Cut the wire."

He did so and went to the next wire.

"Next is another blue/white wire with a light on and a star."

"Okay… Is there any parallel port?"

He turned around the device; he knew what a parallel port was of course, but the fact that his life was in balance with many people he cared for, it was impossible for him to think straight. He turned around the bomb three times before replying to Jerry.

"Yes, I have one!"

"Then cut the wire!"

He took back the control of his breathing, noticing that he hadn't breathed for almost a minute now.

"Okay, next is… A red/blue wire with a light on but no star."

"The last serial number is even?"

"Uh…"

He turned again around the bomb to find the serial number, and when so, he read it to see if the last number was even or not.

"Yes, it is."

"Cut the wire."

"And… The last one… Wait, the green light is on."

"It means that the last wire shouldn't be cut. One more game, how much time left?"

"Huh… A little more than two minutes now."

"Okay, last game?"

"Uh… It's a sort of… Uh… there are six words on it, and another word above them."

"The Who's on first, alright. Tell me the word above the six."

"It says 'nothing'."

"The word nothing or there is no word on it?"

"The word."

"Okay, um… Tell me what is the world on the first column, second line."

The first column, second line. Steve first read it on his mind, then out loud when he finally understood that he had to give it to Jerry.

"It says 'your."

"How do you spell it?"

"Y. O. U. R."

"Okay, I will tell you some words, and you have to click on the first word you see on the six buttons okay?"

"Okay. Hurry. There is one and a half minute left."

"Okay, here we go. Uh uh, you are, uh huh, what with a question mark."

As Steve saw the word 'uh huh' on the list, he stopped Jerry

"Stop, I got it", he said as he clicked on the button next to the word. "Next word is 'no'."

"Mh… The word on the second column, last line?"

"Wait."

"Alright. Uhhh, no, blank."

"Stop. Next one is 'red."

"Spell it?"

"R. E. D."

"Second column, second line."

"Like."

"okay. You're with an apostrophe, next, u, ur, hold, on."

And they continued like this until the end.

"Stop. Next is 'read'. R. E. A. D."

"Second column, second line."

"First."

"Let's see… Left, okay, yes, middle, no, right, nothing, uhhh."

"Stop. Next is… C. Like the letter."

"Okay, second column, first line."

"It says 'middle'."

"Okay… Blank, ready, okay, what, nothing, press, no, wait."

"Stop!"

Suddenly, everyone froze. The timer froze too. And then, everyone cried, even Steve. They defused the bomb, and it remained eight seconds on the countdown timer. Eight seconds. There were eight seconds close to death.

"The bomb is defused!"

Jerry also let out a giant sigh of relief, punching slightly the table as a satisfaction. It would never have been possible if Steve hadn't described this bomb perfectly. It was like natural on Steve to play this game.

"You should play this game boss, you're very good at it."

"You tell me about this game again, and I drop you in the middle of the jungle with a bomb stuck in your ass", he could hear on the phone.

"I said nothing."

At the same time, Danny received a text from Lukela. They had managed to track down a signal coming from what Steve and he had thought to be cameras and listening devices hidden all over the house. It was coming from 2045 Ala Mahamoe Street in Honolulu.

"Alright guys", Danny said after embracing everyone, including his best friend. "Let's go back to the quarters."

Once out and out of view from the cameras inside the house, Danny gave his phone to Steve, so that he could read the text from Dukela.

"Okay, let's go there. Heavy weapons, shoot in sight if anyone tries to run away. I don't care about the consequences right now."

"Understood, boss."

After ten minutes of silence driving, they parked their car out of sight from the suspected house and approached slowly. They weren't talking, just using their hands to communicate, just like in the army. As usual, Junior and Grover took the back of the house, Junior having his "baby toy", a customized shotgun, ready to take men down. Tani and her rifle, Danny and his red shotgun and Steve with his navy weapon took the front door. After thirty seconds, when he knew for sure that Grover and Junior had reached the door in the back of the house, he broke the door with his left leg without hesitation before shouting.

"Five-o, freeze!"

As the guys in the room got surprised, they didn't even have time to move; they were surrendered. They had been caught while they thought it would take days, even weeks for the task force to find them. So they gave up and raised the hands.

"How did you find us?"

"We knew you were listening and seeing us for the bomb defusing. We tracked your signal down."

Their chief, a mid-forty aged male Steve didn't recognize, smiled at him while Danny asked him to place his hands on the back of his head with his fingers crossed.

"Why did you do this to us?" Steve couldn't help but ask.

"I love games. And I like to win. But I know when to recognize my defeat. To be honest with you, I did not think you could defuse this bomb, Lieutenant-commander Steve McGarrett."

"To be honest with you, I still don't know if I will kill you or let the prisoners I know take care of you for me", Steve replied coldly.

The smile the leader of the group had on him for minutes now faded. He hadn't expected this situation. Not now.

"Surprise me", he managed to utter, noticed by Steve.

The latter immediately replied with a fist on his face, straight in the nose. Everyone could hear it break due to the force of the impact as Steve raised his gun once again, even if his hand was sending him a slight wave of pain. He was aiming at his heart, or his head, he was hesitating. His finger on the trigger was trembling, sweat continuing to run down his face as anger and hatred were filling his features. It was one of the situations Danny did not like; endangering Steve's family was some kind of a death sentence, and he could see and feel how hesitant Steve was to pull the trigger. Gently, he approached his best friend, freezing at his side before placing his own hand on his, the one whose finger was on the trigger.

"Steve, he's not worth the bullet that would kill him."

He was trying to soothe his friend he considered as a brother. It took Steve about two minutes to finally removing his finger off the trigger so that Danny could take the weapon from his hands. It was probably the first time he was seeing Steve in such an emotional state. The latter refused to look again at the man who had endangered his family and left the house in a single swing, taking great care to avoid everyone. He walked to the corner of the street, trying to scare away the black thought that was gnawing at him. Within two minutes, he was joined by Danny, as the other members of their team were taking care of the men alongside the Honolulu Police Department. Friendly, Danny tapped Steve's left shoulder, knowing that this simple gesture would please Steve, even in his probably darkest moment. He took the opportunity to hand him his gun, which he quickly replaced in his holster at the level of his right hip.

"I was this close of killing him", he explained slowly, approaching his index finger from his thumb.

"But you didn't."

"I didn't. Because you didn't let me."

"It's my fault then?"

Before Steve could reply, Danny continued.

"You possibly would have done the biggest mistake of your life. I avoided you to make it."

Steve closed his eyes, letting out a big sigh. He was tired, not thinking straight, angry, filled with hatred and fear. He had never been so scared in his entire life. The war he had made for his country was a game compared to this. Why so emotional? He wasn't that emotional before… Before his radiation poisoning diagnosis. What a change! He was even ready to cry a tear.

"You are right", he said with a new sigh.

"What? Can you say it again? I-I think I misunderstood", Danny said, waving his finger next to his ears.

Steve finally smiled, letting out a small laugh. He wasn't ready to say it again, and Danny knew him too well; he knew that.

"Come here."

They finally hugged each other, until Steve's anger finally faded to let place for his relief of having saved his entire family. A friendly and warm hug.

"I love you so much", Steve whispered in his ears.

Danny knew by heart that these words meant a lot to Steve, and he meant them. It was a way to get away all this fear and concern he had accumulated throughout this case that could have killed every single one of them.

"I love you more."

* * *

 **AN: OKAY, I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I took pleasure writing it!**

 **The game 'keep talking and nobody explodes' really exists. Here is the game (taken from the website): one player is trapped in a virtual room with a ticking time bomb they must defuse. The other players are the 'Experts' who must give the instructions to defuse the bomb by deciphering the information found in the bomb defusal manual. But there's a catch: the experts can't see the bomb, so everyone will need to talk it out - fast!**

 **Personally, I LOVE this game, and you can't get rid of it, as there is no bomb like any other one! And of course, it's an easy laugh. There are several videos on youtube (in English and in French) explaining the game or showing some defusal. The bomb defusal manual is really online (yes yes!) and I used it for this story (because I have the one in French, as I'm French).**

 **Thank you very much for having read this story!**


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